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PhD Defense by Bryan VanGinhoven

Committee: Rosalynn Voaden (chair), Robert Sturges, and Richard Newhauser.
ABSTRACT:
This project focuses on the production of The Life of Christina of Markyate, a twelfth-century saint’s life about a contemporary woman mystic and prioress. It argues that this piece of hagiography shows evidence that Christina was not (as has previously been assumed) viewed with hostility by her home abbey of St Albans in England, but that she was embraced by the community as a patron who could obtain institutional advantages for them and serve as a local focus of devotion for St Albans’ monks. The research explores the influence of the Benedictine monastic culture of St Albans upon the composition of the Life and charts specific devotional, liturgical, and historical texts (including works by Bede and Anselm of Canterbury) that the anonymous author of the Life used to help promote Christina as a patron of the abbey.
For more information, visit: ASU English Department Website
Contact: Sheila.Luna@asu.edu